Renting rules revealed at workshop

The trick to picking the perfect off-campus rental this spring is to find an apartment farther away from campus, information services manager Martha Harper said at a housing workshop Tuesday.

The workshop, held in the University Student Commons, focused on how renters should approach apartment-hunting, as well as what to avoid in potential rentals and where the best finds are likely located.

Harper discouraged students from living directly near the Monroe Park Campus, especially in the first 10 blocks of West Grace Street and in the first four blocks of the Fan, which suffer from excessive partying and negligent landlords.

“By and large, the properties in this area are dilapidated, overpriced and overwrought,” Harper said.

Matt Durante, 22, is a junior and history major who used to live close to the Monroe Park Campus on Floyd Avenue. Durante said his apartment was often trashed because of excessive partying.

“It was a little too much for me – too much partying,” Durante said. “We had a slug problem. Generally everything else that was disgusting about it was our fault.”

Expensive areas for student renters are Carytown, Shockoe Slip, Church Hill and family-friendly Fan areas, Harper said.

While Shockoe Bottom is often too pricey for students, Harper said, some Church Hill rentals are affordable and ideal for Medical Center Campus students. She also addressed potential concerns about the area’s distance from Monroe Park Campus.

“Any neighborhood close to one campus is close to the other by way of the Campus Connector,” Harper said.

The Campus Connector is the university bus system that connects the VCU campuses. Harper said students can easily use the free service to get to and from classes.

Oregon Hill, Jackson Ward and downtown Richmond are developing areas, but Harper said they still can be dangerous for students living alone.

The Off-Campus Housing Fair will take place Thursday, March 29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the second floor of the University Student Commons.
A workshop about lease-writing and security will take place in the Commons Forum Room at the Commons on Tuesday, Feb. 27.

“If I was a single woman . I wouldn’t live downtown. It can be a little deserted at night,” Harper said. “(Oregon Hill) has been traditionally poor, white (and) socio-economically depressed.”

Harper also said it is important to be up-front with landlords about being a student.

“Landlords have the right to discriminate against one thing in the state of Virginia, and that’s being a student,” Harper said.

Harper recommended the Off-Campus Student Services Web site, which she said provides a link to an online service for landlords and students seeking to post or view available apartments. The Web site, which is free for student users, helps students avoid contacting landlords who might object to student renters.

“The people on this database know students are using it,” Harper said. The drawback is “a lot of landlords around here are not going to pay money for the database.”

To avoid discrimination, students also should dress nicely when meeting prospective landlords, Harper said. Student renters who behave professionally when making requests give prejudiced landlords no excuse for poor maintenance.

In the case of landlord neglect, Harper said, a student’s best protection is producing written instead of verbal maintenance requests and keeping organized records of all requests.

Even if verbal requests are met, she said, a student should send the written request to the landlord anyway, so the tenant and landlord have mutual documentation of all requests.

Recommendations for apartment hunters include checking for mold, which is problematic in older districts like the Fan and Church Hill, and inquiring about stains indicating past water damage.

Also, students should make sure laundry facilities are safely enclosed, confirm whether toilets flush and check appliances’ condition.

Ask who pays for water and heat, Harper said, as well as how those services are provided.

Even with these suggestions, some students are not tempted to move near campus. Senior psychology major Emily Terrell, 24, said she prefers commuting to campus instead of living nearby.

“There aren’t condos or apartments I would be interested in,” Terrell said. “I just think it (Richmond) is dirty.”